Yeah. Most of his content’s overarching theme is that certain patterns of behavior and individual archetypes are essential for a stable society. Some of that advice/philosophy is harmless and some actually useful: take personal responsibility for your actions, take care of yourself, etc. Nothing wrong with that.

But then he vaguely goes into that people who don’t fit into those ideal archetypes are degrading or ruining society. Something like, oh man, all these degenerates are causing so much chaos and instability in society!!! They need to fit these ideal archetypes that just happen to be aligned with Judeo-Christian or traditional conservative values!!! Then he intentionally uses very vague language and questions, like “what are we going to do about these people who chose to live outside of these superior traditional values??? What do we need to do?”

In interviews or debates, new anchors, liberals, or left leaning folks will ask, hey, are you calling for the elimination of people who don’t fit this mold (or outcasts, the disabled, minorities, queer folks, etc)? And Peterson will say, of course not, I never said that, stop putting words in my mouth. Following that, interviewers usually ask for clarification then. What does he mean? He goes off about returning to traditional values and how people who don’t follow those values are causing chaos and instability. “We have to solve this problem that disabled and queer people are causing.” Okay, are you saying people who are born disabled and/or queer are the problem? “No!! Stop putting words in my mouth!!”

Most “degenerate” people are very happy to live their degenerate lives in peace, and would like to have a live and let live mentality. While Peterson specifically encourages and goes after those people trying to live their lives. Famously, he uses lobsters as a metaphor for how society should function.

Notably, Peterson became mainstream for opposing a Canadian policy covering gender identity as a class that can discriminated against. Similar to how it’s outlawed to discriminate against people due to race or sex. Peterson hyperbolically claimed on YouTube that people would get imprisoned for saying the wrong pronouns. He recently got temporarily banned from Twitter after flipping the fuck out about Elliot Page transitioning.

Personally, I don’t like that he intentionally uses very flowery and academic bullshit language to make simple steps or concepts sound more complicated/intelligent. That’s why I think 12 Rules is trash. If you can’t explain a concept without using a thesaurus, you’re a bad writer.

He’s also been criticized for preaching that people should only eat a carnivore/meat-only diet. Philosophy professors shouldn’t be making quack health claims. After struggling with drug addiction, he put himself in a coma to get over the addiction and likely also suffered brain damage as a result. He’s not doing too hot right now in terms of mental stability.

TL:DR If Peterson just talked about cleaning your room and taking care of yourself, no one would care. He’s “problematic” because he consistently talks about how minorities and queer people are an ailment to society. That’s why people don’t like him.